New Magic
by Admiral Baka
Summary: Hey I know this story is not actually Dragonlance but it is based off of the Soulfourge. Anyway it is about a Drow teen becoming a mage. I'm not good at summaries so forgive me. Please R&R! Oh this story is completely original and if anything is copied I
1. The Mark of the Magi

New Magic

Chapter 1: The Mark of the Magi

"Ashentir, come in for dinner!"

"I'm coming," he grumbled.

As he came in the door the usual,

"Go wash your hands!"

floated in from the kitchen. Still grumbling from having to come inside the 15 year-old Drow boy went to the bathroom to wash his hands. As he was washing Ashentir noticed a strange symbol on the top of his right hand. It shimmered with a red aura that shone brightly against the midnight-black skin.

After he washed his hands, Ashentir went to the kitchen and showed his mother the symbol.When she saw the symbol she visibly paled,

"Oh Gods!" she whispered.

She took Ashentir's hand and pulled him towards the temple. Ashentir shocked by his mother's reaction, was speechless. Upon reaching the temple, and acolyte stopped them and demanded their business,

"We need to see the High Priest on a matter of severe urgency." Was Ashentir's mother's reply.

At the desperate look on her face the acolyte led them to the High Priest's chambers. He then bowed them through the door, and closed it after they entered. Upon their entrance the High Priest looked up from his scrolls and asked,

"Whatever is the matter my dear?"

Ashentir's mother replied,

"He has the mark O' Holy One!"

"Which mark my dear? The mark of the Priest's? Or the mark of the…"

The High Priest faltered, throwing a look of frightened curiosity at Ashentir. He looked back at Ashentir's mother and said,

"It cannot be! No one in this town has borne one of them before! It has always been a priest or priestess, there have been no Magi ever in this town!"

Ashentir's heart skipped a beat, he had heard of mages from travelers coming through the town. They were extremely powerful beings that could use magic to do whatever they wanted. They could summon demons, produce light, call lightning from a cloudless sky, and kill with a single word, gesture, or even a look.

"I'm a mage!" Ashentir cried, "Oh Gods! I…wait," he paused, "does this mean I will have to leave?"

"Yes it does," replied the High Priest, "you will have to be transported to the city of Ginavfon, the capital of the Drow. Thankfully it is still located in the Underdark." "I do not know the ways of the Magi, but I do know that you have to go to school." "You will be chosen by one of the Masters based on your performance during the final test. Your final year in school is when you will be chosen or not chosen."

He gave Ashentir a grave look,

"The road of the Magi is long and arduous, beware of what you say and do, for they will determine the path you take."

With these words Ashentir was escorted home by one of the acolytes. His mother stayed with the High Priest to arrange his departure to the great city of Ginavfon.


	2. Preparations

Chapter 2: Preparations 

The next morning Ashentir entered the kitchen to find his mother sitting at the table. Ashentir's first words to her were,

"When am I leaving?"

"Good morning to you too dear," was her reply "You are leaving tomorrow morning, your school starts one week from tomorrow. The High Priest said the Gods would transport you to the Tower." As an afterthought she said, "you must be very lucky to have the Gods transport you, I don't think they do that for everyone." She smiled at Ashentir and started bustling around to make breakfast.

"Should I start packing now?" he asked

"Yes, remember to bring the quills and ink I got for you, according to the Holy One, they give you everything else there at the Tower."

"Ok," was Ashentir's only reply.

For the time being he only packed the quills and ink, he would finish later, after setting the pack aside he went to have breakfast. When breakfast was over he went outside to say good-bye to his friends. Around midday he came back inside, had a little lunch, and went to his room to finish packing. He only brought small trinkets from around the room. One of the items he wrapped very carefully. It was a black orb the size of his fist. It was extremely rare black mithril. It was smoother than glass and extremely beautiful. Even though it was almost indestructible he wrapped it carefully to keep it from prying eyes. It was very precious to him and he knew it was worth millions in gold.

That night Ashentir was lying in bed thinking of how much he would miss everyone, but how cool it would be to come back home, a powerful mage of the Master rank. With these thoughts Ashentir drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep.


	3. The Mage Tower of Ginavfon

Chapter 3: The Mage Tower of Ginavfon 

Upon waking up Ashentir's heart jolted with anxiety,

"_today is the day my life really begins_" he thought "Wow," he said aloud

As soon as he spoke his mother burst into the room,

"MOM!" Ashentir exclaimed

"Oh, sorry dear I'm just making sure everything is ready." She smiled worriedly and left the room.

When he was dressed Ashentir went to the kitchen for breakfast. When he finished he cleared and washed the dishes. As he was putting them away his mother came in holding the pack with his quills, ink, and the small items. As she gave him the pack she pulled him into a great hug.

"I love you," she whispered "and I hope that whatever the future holds for you, that you choose the right path."

"I will, and I love you too," was his reply

As they walked toward the temple, the people of the town waved their good-byes and wished Ashentir luck. When they reached the temple an acolyte led them immediately to the chambers of the High Priest.

When they entered the High Priest got up and took Ashentir, gently, by the arm,

"are you ready my boy?"

"Yes Holy One."

"Then good luck to you, and may your years be filled with success."

And then Ashentir disappeared.

His arrival to Ginavfon was a shock, one second he was looking at the High Priest and his mother, the next he was staring at a pair of gigantic golden gates. Beyond the gates was a giant courtyard filled with many flowers, trees, bushes, and herbs. In the center of the courtyard was an immense tower. It stood higher than the surrounding buildings by at least a mile.

"_Wait,_"thought Ashentir "_the tower can't be that high, we are under the surface of the world._"

In answer to his question an old Drow in white robes came up from behind the gates and said,

"We are under a mountain, that is why the tower is so high."

Ashentir threw a surprised look at the man,

"How did you know…"

"What you are thinking?" finished the old man "mind reading young man, believe me you will learn from your master eventually, if you are chosen that is." The old man cackled gleefully

"Who are you?" Ashentir inquired.

"My name is Seldarian, and I am the High Mage of the Drow."

"Forgive me, I had no idea," Ashentir said and bowed in a respectful manner.

"Oh bugger the bowing business, and do come in, the patrol is about to come by."

"What is so awful about the patrol sir?" Ashentir asked as he stepped into the courtyard.

"Rude people," muttered Seldarian "don't trust Magi, they arrest us at any given chance, and they have no respect whatsoever."

"Why would they arrest mages?"

"Because they always assume that we have done something wrong, just because of magic. But no matter I usually just ignore them."

As they walked through the gardens Ashentir noticed that the other mages stood aside respectfully for Seldarian and waited for them to pass. The young Drow shot Ashentir venomous looks as he passed. As they neared the tower Ashentir noticed that the structure was made entirely with black mithril, engraved upon the stone were symbols and runes of protection and warding (he guessed).

"The runes constantly move and slither past each other to avoid being read and undone with counter charms," Seldarian said in answer to Ashentir's mind.

Ashentir ignoring this comment was looking thoughtfully at the stone.

"Black mithril," he whispered in awe.

Seldarian gave Ashentir a surprised look,

"You know what stone this is?"

"Yes sir, I have an orb of the same stone with me." was Ashentir's reply

Seldarian threw another look of surprise at him,

"Would you join me for dinner my boy? I have something very important to tell you."

"Yes, sir I would be most honored."

On the way to the hall Ashentir thought about what just happened. He was greeted at the gates by the High Mage himself, and asked to come and have dinner with him. How lucky could one person get?

When they had finished their meal Seldarian leaned forward and spoke to Ashentir.

"Have you ever heard of prophecies my boy?"

"Only that they are unchangeable, inevitable, and can heal or destroy people's lives." Ashentir replied.

"That pretty much explains them," Seldarian chuckled "prophecies usually are highly regarded and never taken as a joke." "There is one I think that you should hear."

He paused recalling the words, and spoke with a voice that engrained the words into Ashentir's head forever.

"The greatest of the magi, Drow and other races alike, will arrive at the Drow tower of Ginavfon bearing a piece of the tower itself. For on the world of Mithran one place has black mithril, the place of the greatest accumulation of magic in the world. For when magic was given to the world, that is where the seed struck, forever altering the white mithril to black. The magic then made the tower, one stone will be separated from the structure and placed in the ground to await the day it is found by a child."

"You are that person Ashentir, you have the stone."

Seldarian gave Ashentir a rare smile and said,

"Don't worry my boy, we all start at the beginning…oh by the way you won't be needing these quills or ink…"

Ashentir looked at the table, the quills and ink his mother have him were lying there.

"We have pre-made quills with anti-cheating charms, and the ink is bewitched also." "Later in school if you pass the first test you will learn to make your own quills, it's a pain but you usually get the hang of it after the first week of making them."

"Yes sir, I understand," Ashentir said in a sleepy voice

"You are tired, let me show you to your room." Seldarian rose "there are clothes for you already, the laundry does itself. Breakfast is at 7, lunch is at noon, and dinner is at 6. Classes start next week, do feel free to stay outside on the grounds, don't go past the gates. The fruit is delicious so eat your fill." "Oh the cooks and teachers don't like people in the herb gardens so keep clear of those. We also teach you how to brew potions so the section of the grounds fenced off is off limits. Most of the things in there are poisonous."

"Yes sir, I won't go there" was Ashentir's only reply.

"Good lad, and here is your room, you can change it to however you want it to look, all the others are wood and the other people can't change theirs. The door will also recognize your voice and fingerprints so it will open only for you." "Don't tell anyone that, only you and I should know about that."

He gave Ashentir a quick wink, said goodnight, and disappeared.

Ashentir startled by his sudden disappearance touched the door and it opened immediately. Apparently it got his fingerprints straight away, and it must have heard him talking to Seldarian. Beyond the door was a black void, remembering what Seldarian said about creating a room Ashentir thought.

The room was made of black mithril, like the tower, the window was covered by black velvet curtains, one wall was an entire bookshelf full of books about magic, dragons, etc. but one half lay empty. Ashentir guessed that was for spellbooks, everything was black, there was a statue of an obsidian dragon in one corner with rubies for eyes. His source of light were torches held onto the walls by iron holsters.

He opened the closet and found that the "clothes" were actually floor length, very fine cotton robes. He unpacked everything and on the nightstand he made an elegant golden stand for the orb. Ashentir climbed into bed and as soon as he was situated the torches went out. He immediately fell asleep and did not wake until a new day came to claim him.


	4. School

School was every bit as awful as Ashentir thought it would be. The school teacher was fat, short, stupid, and above all else: HE WAS A HUMAN! Ashentir had expected to at least be taught by a Drow. Was the High Mage out of his mind? Well of what Ashentir knew of magi, they usually were.

Ashentir's first thought as he walked into the room on the first day was,

"What the hell is that fat sodding mass in the front of the room?"

As he walked toward the front he noticed that the "fat sodding mass" was a human, and as it stated on the black board, he was also the teacher.

"Dammit" was one of the nicer words uttered by the students as they filed into the room. Apparently the other students were thinking along the same lines as Ashentir.

"Humans are the worst at teaching magic…" grumbled one student.

"He can't be that bad" Ashentir replied.

As It were, Ashentir was wrong. The teacher's name was Mr. Theedle, and he was the stupidest person Ashentir had ever encountered. The man kept forgetting things and mispronouncing everything, from names to the actual syllables of magic. Ashentir noticed every mistake, having spent most of his time in the library, and winced at every blunder.

As he sat in class Ashentir had a sudden insight to several things,

He was smarter than the teacher

He could memorize whole volumes of text and recite them word for word. While his teacher struggled with even the simplest of charms or incantations. (He noticed this because Theedle was rambling on about some faire or whatever.)

'With this ability' he thought 'I could memorize whatever I want!'

After realizing this, he anxiously waited for the torture to end (in other words being in the presence of Theedle) so he could dash to the library and experiment with his brain. (Carefully of course, no needles or probes involved)

When the bell finally rang he sprinted to the library and took a book he had not yet read from the student section and opened it. The amount of information was staggering! His whole body tingled with every word he read. It seemed as if the book had somehow opened a tunnel to his brain and was pouring its contents into him. So when it was time for him to go to dinner he put the book away, had dinner and drifted into a sleep filled with runes.

So with the discovery of this new talent Ashentir would run to the library during breaks or lunch and memorize and study. 'This could be the one thing that will sustain me in Theedle's class! I could run through all the information in my head and make sure it is perfectly memorized and not die of boredom!' Ashentir smiled at this and went back to the tome he was studying.

As the years passed people dropped out and left the Tower of Ginavfon. Very few of the students were left. Ashentir was one of the few. He was held in awe by all the other students because of his extensive knowledge. He could recite whole volumes for the younger students to take notes and such. Ashentir felt a deep abiding satisfaction from helping the younger ones. It made him feel pleased and refreshed. But then it was off to "class" if you could even call it that…

When everybody was seated Theedle's face split into a huge grin. Groans came from the students, they knew what that smile meant.

"Test tomorrow!" exclaimed Theedle.

All the other students groaned and whined but Ashentir just sat and wondered what it could be over. But Theedle was not quite finished,

"Only a few of you will be taking this, so every one but these people can relax."

He pulled out a small sheet of parchment and read off the names; at the very end Ashentir's name was called. A couple of the students taking the test relaxed and shrugged like it was no big deal. But Theedle saw those gestures,

"This test may not be hard, but it will determine if you are fit to be a Magi…"

And Theedle left it at that. The other students looked worriedly at each other and started to pull out their books.

"Don't bother" Theedle said "Most of you will fail anyway…" he grinned maliciously. "On that happy note, class is dismissed. Have fun studying!" he called sarcastically after them as they filed out. Several of the students threw him dirty looks. Theedle's grin only grew.

"Well I know where I am going." One of the students said, "I'm going to bed!"

As the other students drifted away Ashentir shook his head at them and headed to the library for a long night of study.

I would like to thank Thoughtful Lunacy and The Noble Rot, for giving me the kick in the rear that made me update this. Thanks guys!


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